


Beyond Beauty and the Beast

by HomeForImaginaryFriends



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Beauty and the Beast Elements, Blood, Curses, M/M, Magic, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 05:54:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13652805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HomeForImaginaryFriends/pseuds/HomeForImaginaryFriends
Summary: The curse has been laid and the Beauty has run away.  (Or, what happens when the beauty never returns and everyone remains cursed.)





	Beyond Beauty and the Beast

Iwaizumi lounged in the twisted tree on the edge of the estate line.  He could go no further due to the curse, even sitting in the tree was pushing the edge of the boundaries but he could no longer remain inside the castle.  He couldn’t watch his childhood friend descend further into madness as the curse wrapped it’s cold and unforgiving hands tighter around the occupants of the castle.  With everyday they lost a little more of who they had once been.  Iwaizumi held strong onto his name, to the fact that he had once been a knight and those within the castle had been his friends.

 

Now he was a cursed monster.  He did not remember his childhood or even his adolescent.  He didn’t remember how he became a knight or who he had been as a person.  The thing they all remembered clearly was they were cursed and only true love could break the curse.  The young master of the manor had fallen in love many times, several maidens had found their way to the cursed castle and had promised they would help.  But when they were released they never returned.

 

Iwaizumi towered over most in his monstrous form.  Curled horns and covered in thick fur, a mouth full of teeth and sharp claws meant he stayed away from the young maidens who dared entered the castle.  Another had shown up, more nervous than the others but she was so sure she could love the young master.  Confident with herself that she alone could break the curse and would be made a princess.

 

Wind blew cold around Iwaizumi, pushing against him but his fur kept him warm.  He thought the girl was just as foolish as the others.  They were all so sure they could break the curse, that some sort of prince waited for them.  Oikawa was a prince alright but he hadn’t escaped the curse.  All who looked upon him shuddered in terror.  Some ran screaming, others merely fainted.  Oikawa swore that he would no longer let them look upon his face until they were truly in love.

 

A snort left Iwaizumi as he pulled his cape tighter around him.  They were all fools.  The curse would never be broken and they were all destined to lose themselves fully to it.  Iwaizumi could no longer even remember if they deserved it or not.

 

A yell broke Iwaizumi out of his solitude.  He felt his lip curl back from his teeth in distaste, a silent snarl on his face at his peace being interrupted once again.  Could he not have five bloody minutes to himself?

 

Surprisingly it was not Oikawa screaming for him or one of the other cursed residents calling for his help.  It was two men on horseback racing through the east forest.  Iwaizumi leaned forward because he could not remember anyone besides a few beautiful women stumbling upon the cursed land.

 

The man on the back of the horse slid off.  The person in front cried out in alarm.

 

“You must go.”  The man on the ground said.  He was not overly tall but neither short, broad shouldered and the sword he pulled out from the scabbard on his belt was nothing special or beautiful but Iwaizumi knew it for the well taken care of weapon it was.  The man on the horse was covered in a thick winter cloak and there was a wrapping around his eyes.  “Trust the horse to lead you and don’t stop.”  The man on the horse shifted and for an instant his cape parted, Iwaizumi saw a little body hidden beneath the folds before it was pulled tightly closed again.

 

“I cannot leave you Daichi!”  The man on the horse shouted, reaching out for the one on the ground who moved out of his hold.

 

“We’ll never escape with both of us riding, I can buy you time but you must go.”  The man, Daichi, swept close only to hit the horse on the rump, sending it dancing forward before it took off in a run straight for the castle.

 

The horse bolted underneath the tree Iwaizumi was on.  It gave an alarmed shrill when it scented Iwaizumi and ran faster to escape the monster Iwaizumi knew he was.

 

The man watched the horse ride away.  Iwaizumi knew from his vantage point he could not see the castle that was beyond the rolling hills and twisted winter-dead trees.  Shouting came from the distance and the man, Daichi, took a controlling deep breath before tossing aside his own winter cape.  Iwaizumi had no idea why his first thought was that this man was a soldier, but it was something he was sure of.  His stance and the easy, familiar way he held his sword portrayed him as such.

 

The wind blew against Iwaizumi again, bringing with it the scent of the man below.  Fire and woods combined, but there was also the stark smell of iron that did not come from the well polished sword.  Upon closer inspection Iwaizumi could see the dark stain against his side.  The soldier had already been wounded, though his movements did not betray the injury.

 

More men burst through the trees and snow.  The wounded soldier was clearly outnumbered.  Crossbows were aimed on him instantly, swords were pulled out and there was no mercy on any of the other men's faces.

 

“Move aside!”  The one in the front barked at the soldier on the ground.  Iwaizumi shifted on the thick branch, feeling uneasy rip through him as he watched the scene unfold.  “I cannot promise you leniency but if you move you will at least live to see tomorrow.”

 

“I was to say the same thing to you.”  The foolish man grinned as he held up his sword.

 

“Your life needn’t end here, I will order you once more to move aside!”  The one in charge yelled.  Iwaizumi felt his entire body stiffen.

 

“Death first!”  The wounded soldier screamed.  Bolts flew from the crossbow.  The first missed, the second merely grazing the soldiers sleeve but the third and fourth hit home.  One in his shoulder, the second in his thigh.

 

Iwaizumi felt the foreign need to leave.  This wasn’t his fight, he welcomed the men to come to the castle and be met with cursed monsters.  But for some reason that felt wrong to him.  He didn’t remember the man he was before, though he knew he had been a man.  He felt as if he too had once been foolishly brave and stalwart like the wounded soldier who knew he was doomed from the start but was willing to give his life so the blind man and the child he hid inside his cloak could have a few moments head start.

 

The world was dead around Iwaizumi, everything encased in a permanent winter.  It was always frigid and white snow glistened mockingly from every corner.  But as Iwaizumi balanced on the thick branch, his hand gripping another branch above him as he made the decision to help the foolish man a single bud grew on the long dead tree.

 

Iwaizumi jumped down from his high perch just as the man's body hit the ground, sword still clasped tightly in his grip.  Iwaizumi had only a second to glance at him, at Daichi the wounded soldier with the strong will and foolish grin.  His eyes were a soft brown and he merely looked surprise when he caught sight of Iwaizumi.  Not frightened, not on the verge of a scream or faint.  Just surprised.

 

Iwaizumi looked up at the stunned men before him, took in a deep breath that smelled of woodsmoke and woods, and roared.  The sound frightened the horses, who tossed themselves back and ran quickly away from him.  The men who rode them could only hold on for dear life as they disappeared once more into the forest.

 

“Thank you.”  Daichi gasped out, blood dripping from his mouth.  Iwaizumi stared down at him once more.

 

Iwaizumi was cursed.  He wasn’t sure for what reason or for how long he had endured the curse that reshaped his body into something huge and monstrous.  Before all he had wanted was peace and quiet, time to himself with no one around him.  No one to judge him for his inhuman form.

 

But Daichi did not look horrified as Iwaizumi leaned close to wrap his own cloak around him and carefully picked him up.

 

“Does my knight have a name?”  The man asked as Iwaizumi carried him back towards the castle.  Iwaizumi could not understand the one he held in his arms.  He must be in a great deal of pain and Iwaizumi was a great hulking monster but he did not appear frightened in the least.

 

“Hajime.”  Iwaizumi said, though he had not spoken in so long he was surprised at the gruffness of his own voice.  He also had not remembered his own name until he spoke it, until the man had asked him of it.  Iwaizumi glanced down at the man in his arms once more as he walked out of the forest.

 

Behind him the snow was slowly disappearing from the icy landscape surrounding the castle...

**Author's Note:**

> I've been meaning to write this for a long time but I couldn't figure out who should play the beast and the beauty! Then I thought, Oikawa is clear the beast but lets give the side characters a little love! I'm not sure either, I should stop rambling, it's very late.


End file.
